American Express Rumored To Release New Optio Charge Card & New Tier In 2020.

The internet communities interested in credit cards and loyalty programmes have been alive with chatter following the November Bank of America Future of Financials Conference at the St Regis Hotel in New York City, where American Express Group President of Global Consumer Services Doug Buckminster said "Yes err no, err can't talk about it" when asked if a new American Express charge card above platinum, and below Centurion, would be available to consumers.

There is a strong possibility that the slip up was just that.  But then again. as many have observed, the release of a new product would make sense.  The case for it is; The platinum is now $550 in the US, whereas the Centurion is now $5,000 in the US, an almost a 800% difference vs when the fee was $2,500, as it was prior to late 2019, and when the difference was only 400%.

This difference is more than semantic, behind the scenes the spend required to achieve Centurion status was $100,000 in a year on their platinum card.  That is achievable by many on salaries of $70,000 if they live as a couple, and take all the expenses on their card.  Now it is $250,000.  that means you need to have a combined income in excess of $400,000 to be able to put that volume of expenses through on your card.  This means the Centurion card is now one truly for the elite only.  The gap is such that the platinum card can't be regarded as "just below the Centurion card" anymore.

What would the new product look like?  Again, rumours only, but it may be called the "Optio", which means to choose in latin, and is a rank lower than Centurion in the Roman army.  It would have all the platinum benefits, and some of the Centurion ones, and be set somewhere in the middle price wise, at around $1,500, or £1,000 if it is released in the UK, although it's likely to be tested in the US for some time before worldwide release.

The downside of this being a reality is, it's highly likely we will see the beloved platinum card loose several benefits.  Centurion lounge access?  Unlikely.  Full range of hotels loyalty programmes currently available?  Don't bet on it.  The platinum card, which currently hangs onto it's 'elite card' status by the skin of it's teeth, would be relegated to little more than just another Charge card if this comes to pass.